The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1887-07-16
cent; on iron and steel and manufactures


paid upon II In 1882 WAS 81 Der cent, In
1888 90 per cent, In 1891 ~ par cent, 10
1885 70 per cent, and In 1886 SO per cent.
This constantly increasing duty Is secur.
ed under a. cheapening product, by the
mere trick of substituting specific, for Id
calOrum duties; and this Is the reduction"
given US by the much Wanted tariff CON-
mission OF 1882. "By their fruits ye shall
KNOW Them" and judged by its fruits, l
submit, that If the commission was hon
est, II was ignorant, and If competent, it
was fraudulent
And will here remark, In passing, that
the Hon. Samuel j, Randall, the acknowl.
edged champion of protection In the house
of representatives., also declared In sub.
stance, that the tariff of 1883 bore thc i'm.
preston Of the accumulated wisdom of the
nation, and he deprecated any disturbance
or change of 1t for at least twenty years
Yet within a twelve month thereafter. he
himself introduced bill for tariff re-
form,"a single item of which illustrates
the object of protection 1t Its very height
and depth. II raised the duty upon tin
from one to two and one.half cents
per pound. The inquiry at once arose, why
take tin from the perfect" tariff of 1888,
and raise It's duty $50 per cent? The rid
die did not remain long remain unread.
The true inwardness of the proceeding
was soon discovered in the publication
that mammoth deposits # tin had been dis.
covered in Dakota, that these deposits
cropped out over range of about $4,000
acres, much of which is so pure that it re.
mains uncorroded by the exposure of the
ages, and that this vast tract was TAX en- up
by syndicates formed and forming, in both
Europe and America. 1t was then appar.
ent that this proposed increase of tariff
upon tin was wise, timely. and
patriotic precaution TO prevent the
pauperization Of labor American that might
be engaged in the future development of
that infant industry. OF course, without
this extra $50 per cent of protection the
American laborcr would decend to the level
of the Europeon pauper engaged in the
like industry, who receives but tritle
higher wages than the highly pr detected
America iron worker
The God of nature bestowed this vast de-
post, rich and priceless blessing upon
the American people; but so far as legis-
lation can render it so, protection, would
make It's discovery positive curse. Be
cause of Its comparative cheapness tin en-
tiers largely into many of the industries,
and is of universal use in domestic life, it
is the culinary and kitchen ware of the
common people But nature having yield
ed up this vast and free deposit, the
blighting mildew of protection at once
overshadows 1t, and because it is free
gift, hereafter we must have dear tin. The
outrage of copper protection, must be re-
peated in tin. We had free and cheap cop
per, until measureless deposits of the
pure material were unfortunately discover
ed upon the shores of Lake Superior Then
came protection, and its correlative curse,
costly copper to the people. We had free
and cheap copper before we found and
mined it. Then came six cents per pound
protection. 1t instantly wiped out our prof
liable commerce with Chilli; destroyed our
carrying trade, wrecked the large smelling
works in Baltimore, Boston and other sea
port cities discouraged ship building,
fastened the destruction of our mercantile
marine by multiplying the cost of sheath
ing, rivets, bolts and other copper ship sup
plies, and drove more men out of the car
rying trade then 1t has furnished employ
ment In the mines; and what has 1t given
in return? Forty or fifty millionaires, a
few poorly paid laborers In the copper
mines, and the most expensive copper to
a.y people of earth, instead of furnishing
labor protection, by increasing the price,
lessened the demand, clogged and retarded
the output, and thus deprived American
labor of the natural and full employment
in its production, and today less labor is
employed in the mines, than lands at Cas-
tle Garden from Europe of an afternoon.
1t made millionaires, by legalizing SUI h
monstrous extortion that the copper mines
of Michigan, as found by the commissioner
of mineral statistics, have divided greater
dividends than have been declared by all
the gold mines of California since the dis
covery of gold in lS49. These dividends
were wrung from sweating millions, that
monopoly might fatten on the tribute, thus
destroying the commonwealth, by giving
wealth to few and misery to the multitude
and so we might make the full round of
the industries and show that protection
renders every natural advantage, so far as
legislation can make it SO, a positive curse
to the country; but these two illustrations
must suffice for the present. They are
specimen bricks in the edlfice of protection,
and to the shame of the structure 1t may
truthfully be said, that the entire pile is
faithfully represented by the samples